Container lines

First-quarter 2014 numbers are in for the U.S. containerized ocean trade, with year-over-year results essentially flat.

The impact of importers’ contingency plans to avoid any West Coast labor disruptions tied to International Longshore and Warehouse Union contract talks are showing up in second-quarter import volumes.

The U.S.-Asia ocean container trade increased 2.7 percent to 20 million 20-foot-equivalent units in the 12 months ending March 2014 compared with the prior 12-month period, according to data from PIERS, the data division of JOC Group.

China Cosco Holdings plans to buy five 14,000-TEU ships to help replenish a fleet that has been aggressively trimmed so far this year with 24 ships heading for the scrap yard.

Zim Integrated Shipping Services today said it has reached agreement with the Israeli government over the state’s “golden share,” paving the way for a $3.4 billion debt restructuring...

China Cosco Holdings scrapped another eight vessels in the second quarter, taking to 24 ships disposed of in a fleet renewal program...

United Arab Shipping Co. and China Shipping Container Line are the “most obvious” partners for CMA CGM after the French ocean carrier was excluded from the recently unveiled 2M alliance between Maersk Line and Mediterranean Shipping Co., according to Drewry Maritime Research.

The top 10 companies among JOC’s Top 100 exporters were responsible for exporting 1,454,700 TEUs in 2013.

Shipper groups began to react cautiously to the planned 10-year vessel-sharing agreement proposed by Maersk Line and Mediterranean Shipping Co. on east-west trades, dubbed “2M.”

Wan Hai Lines plans to upgrade its intra-Asia service network by joining the West India-China direct service (WIN) operated by a consortium of NYK Line, X-Press Feeders, Hapag-Lloyd and Yang Ming Lines.

How much market share Maersk Line and Mediterranean Shipping Co. would control through the 10-year vessel sharing agreement they announced on July 10 will largely determine whether the pact meets a similar fate to that of the P3.

The Port of Tacoma sealed a new deal with Washington-based carrier Westwood Shipping Lines for the line to move its Puget Sound port of call back to Tacoma.

The world’s two biggest container lines today announced plans to launch a 10-year vessel-sharing agreement, dubbed 2M, to cover more ports with direct services and improve efficiency through better utilization of vessel capacity and economies of scale.

The unit cost advantage container carriers are gaining by operating mega-ships is having the effect of dragging down freight rates at a time when all but the top lines are struggling to remain profitable.

With the body of the failed P3 Network still warm, the world's top two carriers have announced a new global agreement without CMA CGM.

Trade between northern Europe and North America fell in May, but carriers are making moves to keep their utilization rates over 90 percent on both eastbound and westbound routes, Drewry says.

Maersk Line said its customers face an additional charge of between $50 and $150 per 40-foot container on North American and North European routes that will be affected by new low-sulfur fuel limits that come into force in January.

West Coast ports can breathe a sigh of relief after the rejection of the P3 Network by China’s Ministry of Commerce — a single operational entity won’t have the huge leverage they feared in negotiations over port calls and terminal charges.

Industry professionals will study the ramifications of liquefied natural gas leaks to get a better handle on the scope of accidental incidents.

A major restructuring move at Cosco Container Lines Americas will result in most regional offices closing in favor of a larger, more centralized North American Operations Center.

Israel Corp., the parent of Zim Integrated Shipping Services, has backed a court ruling that modifies the scope of the state’s “golden share” in the ocean carrier.

A Nicaraguan government committee today approved the route of a proposed $40 billion canal project that will bisect the country and rival the Panama Canal waterway linking the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean.

Minsheng Financial Leasing will receive $295 million from the Korean and Chinese export-import banks to build three 18,400-TEU ships that will be leased to Mediterranean Shipping Co. in the second half of 2015.

West Coast ports will spend the coming year in much the same way they spent the past year: preparing for big ships operated by big carrier alliances.

For five years now, cargo interests and truckers have been adjusting to a new environment in which shipping lines no longer provide chassis, yet the transition period still has a few years to go before the trade adopts a new model or models, according to an industry expert.

Manuel “Mike” Diaz Jr., who helped pioneer containerization and its pricing during a long career in shipping, died July 5 in San Mateo, California. He was 93.

OOCL has been fined €50,000 over the death of one of its senior executives 11 years ago.

CMA CGM has teamed up with India’s largest port company to build and operate a fourth container terminal at the port of Mundra.

The widening of the Panama Canal could eventually lead to a 90 percent increase in cotton exports for U.S. South Atlantic and Gulf Coast ports, and a 66 percent reduction in cotton exports through West Coast ports.

The gap between global liner schedule reliability this year and last year has narrowed, although monthly performance in May was still down year-over-year.

An Israeli court has modified key terms of the state’s veto-wielding “golden share” in Zim Integrated Shipping Services that threatened to block the carrier’s $3.4 billion restructuring.

DFDS, northern Europe’s largest integrated shipping and logistics company, confirmed it is one of the companies participating in the sale of UN Ro-Ro, the Turkish roll-on, roll-off carrier.

Hanjin Shipping will rake in almost $300 million from the spinoff of its dry bulk business, allowing the loss-making Korean carrier to remove a significant portion of debt as it continues to restructure the company.

The ink was hardly dry on Hapag-Lloyd’s merger deal with Chilean carrier CSAV when departing chief executive Michael Behrendt raised the prospect of acquiring an Asian container line.

Ocean container carriers must prioritize cost reductions this year to counter lower contract freight rates and volatile spot markets, according to Drewry Maritime Research.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Federal Maritime Commissioners yesterday unanimously voted to allow CKYH partners and Evergreen Line to discuss cooperating in the trans-Pacific and trans-Atlantic trades.

Global sea and air freight rates could decline by as much as 2.5 percent by the end of 2014, experts at Drewry Maritime Research say.

Former Damco head Rolf Habben Jansen takes over as CEO of Hapag-Lloyd, effective today.

An Israeli court is due to rule on the state’s “golden share” in Zim after the ocean carrier failed to reach agreement with the Israeli government over the controversial issue.